IT service providers have a lot on their plates. Axians, based in the Netherlands, is a case in point. This company manages client IT infrastructure, everything from hardware, software – both custom and off the shelf – as well as cloud services and network solutions.
Networks these days are incredibly complex and the lifeblood of modern organizations. That’s a rather obvious point. Just as apparent is that service providers need solutions that can handle this complexity, and manage, troubleshoot and fix on-premises networks, cloud networks and hybrid network infrastructure.
Many IT service providers start with the management of servers and end points, and are now moving clients to cloud applications. With that it makes sense for providers to take care of all aspects of the network, including those pieces that reach out to the cloud and back.
With Kaseya Traverse, now in use at Axians, service providers can create a holistic, aggregate view of these cloud services the way they have a single pane view of on-premises infrastructure.
“We’re very active in the network field, and focused on the product portfolios of Cisco, Aruba (HP) and Avaya,” says René van Ling, manager, Operations and Services. “In addition, we provide a variety of services, varying from installation to day-to-day management. Over the past few years the importance of a highly available, trustworthy network has increased. Nowadays, 24×7 support is a standard, expected service to an increasing number of companies.”
When it comes to managing networks, there are two kinds of complexity – the complexity of the network and that of the management solution itself. Axians faced both challenges, part of which as a home-made solution for remote network monitoring of customer devices. “The maintenance of this solution – especially keeping every device we have to monitor up-to-date – became more time consuming and costly,” says Nick Smit, service manager at Axians. “Networks became more and more complex, and having to keep up with every development was costing us a lot of time and resources.
That was the reason we decided to explore the market to find a standard solution that met our requirements.”
The best way to get the job done was Kaseya Traverse. “We’re dealing with a wide selection of networks, including both data communication as well as telephone equipment. In this case, it is
important that your network monitoring application covers all of the supporting components.
Kaseya Traverse gave us that type of cover. We were also dead-set on a multi-tenant environment that allows us to follow all of our customers in just one view. Scalability was a critical issue, as well. We wanted to be able to support future growth.”
Traverse is working out great. “Onboarding a customer used to take up a lot of time. Now – thanks to Kaseya’s cloud technology – we’ve reduced this process to a short five days. We can now also offer
our customers a variety of service levels, from simple alerts to a more complete solution, which entails solving disruptions on-site. Additionally, Kaseya’s cloud approach gives us peace of mind that we don’t have to worry about scalability. The number of supported devices is extensive, allowing us to offer our customers great service.” Smit also points out the user friendliness of Traverse as another primary benefit. “Learning to use Traverse is extremely intuitive. An administrator can quickly and easily adapt to the platform, and operate it with ease. Choosing Traverse has been the right decision.”
The Smart Service Provider Money is on the Cloud
Channel advocacy group CompTIA this year released its CompTIA’s Fifth Annual Trends in Managed Services report, which is available to premium members.
CompTIA found that service providers such as MSPs are still largely focused on on-premises work, such as security, firewall and server management. But the needs of SMBs go far beyond that. “Today, end user organizations of all sizes, from SMBs to enterprises, want MSPs that can deliver advanced services, such as cloud infrastructure management, application management, and even business process outsourcing. This will require technical skills that many of today’s MSPs do not yet have, which means training and/or recruitment of new employees,” CompTIA found.
Here’s what one MSP said on Reddit. “Everything is going towards the cloud. For example ― I have a client on a Rackspace server, Vonage Business (VOIP), Office 365, and QB (QuickBooks) is hosted. The only service I’m not making MRC (monthly recurring cost) is on is the QB Hosting,” the MSP said. “I believe the future of MSPs is also selling telecom and implementing cloud solutions for their clients.”
Another MSP responded with the same sentiment. “Agreed… I’m starting to see my business transform into a technology broker and integrator more than anything else. Seeing the big picture now and down the road is becoming the differentiator.”
Learn More About Axians and Traverse
Service providers interested is this growing area of business have been turning to Kaseya Traverse, which can help you manage the cloud and perform Root Cause Analysis in Complex Networks.
And you can read the complete Axians’ case study here.
